Greens target $10b mine

PROTESTING: Greens members Elvyn Smith (left) and Maria Macdonald of Bowen outside the Queens Beach Hotel Bowen where Adani and Leighton representatives spoke at the protest.Contributed

GREEN protesters were in Bowen yesterday in response to expansion plans for Queensland’s coal resources.

The group gathered to oppose Adani Enterprises $10 billion Carmichael Coal and Rail Project, which is the latest addition to Anna Bligh’s plan to develop the state’s coal resources.

About 50km long, Carmichael Coal Mine will be the biggest in the southern hemisphere.

There are two major components to this project: a greenfield coal mine with both open-cut and underground mining as well as associated mine processing facilities and a railway line for transporting coal to Abbot Point or Hay Point (Dudgeon Point).

Coral Coast Greens representative Maria Macdonald said this was a recipe for disaster.

“What we have here is equally the world’s largest coal mining operation, shipping coal through what will be the world’s largest coal loading facility, through the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef,” Ms Macdonald said.

Adani Group acquired the Carmichael Coal Mine, 200km west of Moranbah, last year and purchased a 99-year lease on Abbot Point earlier this year. The company is also one of two “preferred proponents” for the proposed expansion of Dudgeon Point, near Mackay, if it goes ahead.

The mine, which covers about 350sq km, is expected to produce 60 million tonnes of coal a year in about 10 years time, with seven to eight million tonnes being added every year until then.

The project has a potential mine life of 150 years, including construction, operation and closure.

“There is a lot of work to be done, but we are completely committed to this,” Adani Mining CEO Jignesh Derasari said.

“By the end of next year, we expect to get all the approvals in place and we definitely want to begin construction early in 2013, and be operational by 2014.”

Coal from this project will predominantly service the Indian market.

The Greens oppose this development. They believe the Carmichael Coal mine will produce far more greenhouse gases in Australia than Julie Gillard’s carbon tax will reduce.

Escaping wastewaters from the mine site will flow into the Great Barrier Reef, and the project will also be a threat to endangered species such as the black-throated finch, they say.

Grazing properties may be destroyed by open cut mining and the rail corridor, and coal dust from the stock piles at Abbot Point will pose a threat to small farm cropping in the Bowen district, the Greens said.